AbstractResearch shows that social media networks can affect both the physical and mental health of its users. We hypothesized that social media would also be associated with cognitive vulnerability to depression. To test this hypothesis, we used a 3-month pre-post prospective longitudinal design with a sample of undergraduates (n = 105). Results showed that participants who had tweets with a “past focus” (as determined by LIWC software) were more likely to exhibit increases in cognitive vulnerability and depressive symptoms than participants who did not have tweets with a past focus. Increases in cognitive vulnerabi lity were associated with increases in depressive symptoms. However, the effect of Twitter content on future depressive symptoms was not accounted for by increases in cognitive vulnerability. Rather, one’s past focus Twitter content had an effect on future depressive symptoms that was independent of its effect on future cognitive vulnerability levels. These results provide further support for the plasticity of cognitive vulnerability in early adulthood as well as corroborate emerging evidence for the association between social media and mental health risk factors.

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This is Episode 15 of PsychCrunch, the podcast from the British Psychological Society’s Research Digest, sponsored by Routledge Psychology. Download here.
http://traffic.libsyn.com/psychcrunch/201903313_PsychCrunch_Ep15_Mx3.mp3
Mindfulness is everywhere these days, but is it really as beneficial as it’s often made out to be? Our presenter Ginny Smith hears from clinical psychologist Dr Catherine Wikholm (co-author of The Buddha Pill: Can Meditation Change You?); she visits the Cambridge Buddha Centre to meet people who have taken up mindfulness meditation; and she discusses some of the latest mi...

CONCLUSIONS: Psychological therapy may improve parenting behavior among parents of children with cancer, chronic pain, diabetes, and traumatic brain injury. We also found beneficial effects of psychological therapy may also improve parent mental health among parents of children with cancer and chronic pain. CBT and PST may improve parenting behavior. PST may also improve parent mental health. However, the quality of evidence is generally low and there are insufficient data to evaluate most outcomes. Our findings could change as new studies are conducted.
PMID: 30883665 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Conclusions: Compared with waiting list, guided iCBT is effective and likely results in symptom improvement in mild to moderate major depression and social phobia. Guided iCBT may improve the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder compared with waiting list. However, we are uncertain about the effectiveness of iCBT compared with individual or group face-to-face CBT. Guided iCBT represents good value for money and could be offered for the short-term treatment of adults with mild to moderate major depression or anxiety disorders. Most people with mild to moderate depression or anxiety disorders with whom...

ConclusionsEngaging with an app that provides CBT strategies can increase mental wellbeing, and coping self ‐efficacy may mediate effects of the app in individuals experiencing moderate depression or anxiety.

AbstractClinical theory from multiple psychological perspectives, including cognitive therapies, have long suggested that the maladaptive use of strategies to regulate emotion play a central role in the development and maintenance of psychopathology. This consideration may be particularly salient for depressive symptoms, given the prevalence of multiple negative emotions in the context of depression and the recently established tendency for depressed individuals to suppress emotions. We experimentally tested whether emotional and physiological effects of emotion suppression in response to separate sadness and anxiety induc...